


i could meet anyone, but i met you

by Kittenixie



Series: the clover chronicles [4]
Category: Smile For Me (Video Game)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Friendship, M/M, Multi, Other, Slice of Life, actual timeframe, and also being stupid, flower kid's name is clover, i just go hog wild, i know trevor/fk is like kind of a hot take but hear me out, i've never been good with tags, let me be clear i have no regards for sfm's like, there's a section that's text fic, there's some minecraft in there, this is just like kids being friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-23 20:23:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20346184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittenixie/pseuds/Kittenixie
Summary: Clover's life is finally falling into a sense of easy normalcy.





	i could meet anyone, but i met you

Clover’s fingers tapped their desk idly, and then they moved to type, answering a test question with only minor difficulty.

They weren’t quite used to their new schedule yet. Putunia was still at school by this time, and they were busy with their own schoolwork. Clover had chosen to go with online school, at least for the time being. By now, they could mostly talk, at least physically, but that didn't take away their selective mutism. Therapy might do that, maybe, but only time would tell. And either way, they liked being able to decide their own work times.

But that wasn't the only new thing, because they and Kamal had decided to move in with Putunia and Habit. They'd already had a few months to get used to the new environment, and they liked the extra company, but they  _ weren't _ used to Putunia's school schedule. They were so used to her just being there all the time that her absence was a little distracting to them.

Clover shook their head, trying to focus on their test. And then an alarm on their phone went off to unlock the door for Putunia, and just a few moments later there was a knock at the door. They paused their test and turned off the alarm, coming to the door and opening it up. And then Putunia slammed into them like a freight train. "Clover!" She laughed, grinning.

Clover caught her, though they certainly felt the strain. "Uff. Hi, 'Tunia," they greeted, setting her down. "How was school?"

"Good!" She grinned, moving to put her backpack away. "What about yours?"

They paused. "...Still need to finish a test," they sighed dramatically. 

“Get to work, then!” She commanded jokingly, giving them a light shove back towards their desktop. “And then we can do something fun.”

Clover smiled. They’d get used to this. 

* * *

**nat:** okay i have been formally asked not to cuss in this chat by clover with underlying threat to it  
**nat:** but if whoever stole my diamonds on the minecraft server doesn’t fess up i’m going to start breaking chests  
**putunia:** you KNOW who it was lol they do this like every other day  
**Clover:** break my chests and i will do it to you.  
**nat:** tim tam i swear to god  
**Trevor:** “You know who did it” is exactly what a diamond thief would say  
**putunia:** TREVOR YOU CLASS TRAITOR WE ALL KNOW IT WAS TIM TAM  
**Trevor:** A likely story  
**Clover:** r u sure u didnt just take it in an act of spite n then forget  
**putunia:** CLOVER!!!!  
**putunia:** MY OWN FLESH AND BLOOD SIBLING?!?!?!  
**putunia the only child:** i have no sibling now  
**Clover:** wait no  
**Clover:** nat are u in my house  
**nat:** IT WAS YOU!!!  
**Clover:** I DIDN’T TAKE THEM??  
**nat:** CLOVER THEY’RE IN YOUR CHEST  
**putunia the only child:** this is the most dramatic thing  
**Clover:** NAT I SWEAR TO U I DID NOT PUT THEM THERE  
**Trevor: **Wow this is a mess  
**nat:** WHY ARE THEY THERE THEN CLOVER!!!!  
**Trevor: **I have a theory  
**nat:** what is it  
**Trevor:** What if Tim Tam stole them and put them there  
**Trevor:** I’m pretty sure they would’ve gone missing while me and Cloves were mining  
**putunia the only child:** advanced plays  
**nat:** oh my goddd  
**Clover:** yeah i remember tht  
**nat:** but you two are like totally in kahoots  
**nat:** how do i know you’re not lying  
**Clover**: bc im not  
**nat:** clover  
**nat:** clover  
**Clover:** yes  
**nat: **is pvp on.  
**Trevor:** You’re both hopeless  
**putunia the only child:** you are both so stupid god bless  
**Clover:** no  
**nat:** TURN IT ON COWARD  
**nat:** TURN IT ON AND FACE ME  
**Clover:** not in a million years nat  
**nat:** COWARD!!!  
**putunia the only child:** not to interrupt this soap opera but there’s like 10 extra diamonds in tim tam’s chest  
**nat:** @tim tam  
**nat:** **_YOU  
_** **tim tam:** oops.  
**nat: **__YOU COME ON THE SERVER AND FACE YOUR CRIMES  
**nat:** __CLOVER TURN PVP ON  
**putunia the only child: **stop! you violated the law  
**tim tam:** no.  
**nat:** __TIM TAM I WILL COME TO YOUR REAL LIFE HOME  
**Clover:** then pay with your blood!  
**tim tam: **do it.  
**nat:** i am on my way.  
**Trevor:** We’re about to be witnesses to a real murder  
**putunia:** to be fair they’ve done worse  
**Clover:** aw tunia did u forgive me already  
**putunia:** perhaps.  
**Clover:** remember tht time they built a trap into yr house  
**putunia:** i will never ever forget that crime thanks  
**Trevor:** Clover wanna go mining  
**Clover:** yea im on my way

* * *

Clover knocked on a familiar door, potted plant in hand. The door opened with a familiar, ominous creak, and Nat stepped out.

“Oh, hey, Kid. Dad order something?” Clover nodded.

“Spider plant.” They passed the plant over, and Nat set it down on the ground, leaning against the door.

“So what’s up? The bike’s new,” she commented, gesturing to their new green scooter. Attached was a basket at the front with some smaller plants, and on the back a small wagon with the larger ones. “Jesus, how much does all that weigh?”

“Not that much,” they said with a tilt of their head. “It’s just plants. I lift a ten year old every day. A very forceful, fast ten year old.”

“So Putunia hasn’t changed a bit, then,” she replied with an amused snicker. Her gaze wandered the wagon. “Those for  _ Trevor _ ?” She questioned, a teasing tone to her voice. Clover glanced back, spotting the bouquet of red roses.

“Ha. Pshhh…” Their face felt very hot. “No.” They ran a hand through their hair, refusing to make eye contact. “Parsley wanted them. Y’know. For Martin.”

“Ah, yeah. Besides, that’s much too cliche for your tastes, isn’t it?”

Clover floundered for a moment, sputtering in embarrassment. “That makes me sound like such a tool!” They complained, hiding their face in their hands. Nat laughed.

“I’ve gotten your bouquets before, Clover! They’re like, absolutely ridiculous!” She snickered. “How many kinds were in that last one? Three? Four?”

“...Six,” Clover replied quietly, muffled by their hands.

“Six different kinds of flowers! And like, they’re very pretty, but my point is you don’t  _ do _ halfway with those things!” She gestured with one hand. “I bet you wanted to add in more variety to Parsley’s but you didn’t out of respect for his life choices.”

She knew them well. “Maybe.” Nat chuckled, and Clover puffed up. “Well, like, there’s so many more unique ways to say that! Pink and red carnations, daisies, gardenias, violets, orchids, snapdragons, marigolds--”

“Those last two don’t mean love.”

“--ah? Wait.”

“Oh, okay, so  _ that’s _ the bouquet you’re giving to Trevor.”

“Wait.  _ No. _ ”

“Oh my god. Clover. That was no slip-up. You’re in it deep.”

“Tsh-- shut up! I’m leaving! Gotta deliver flowers! Bye!” They ran back to their bike, quickly fleeing the scene.

“Bye, gay nerd! Good luck with that one!” Nat called after them before closing the door.

* * *

Clover had an odd sort of affinity with Tim Tam that some people considered a real head-scratcher. The kid was around Putunia’s age, though, and Clover had always been good with kids, so it made enough sense to them. Tim Tam would come to Clover with stolen goods when they were a little younger, consistently tasking them to get rid of evidence-- which, to Clover that meant tracking down its rightful owners and giving things back, but they didn’t know that--, and even when they’d (mostly) grown out of their habit of thievery, they gravitated to Clover when they needed something. 

So when one day they were on a walk and Tim Tam and Putunia ran up and hid behind them, they were only a little surprised. "What's up?" They asked, craning their head back to look at the two without moving out of the way. "Is everything okay?" They were glad Tim Tam's good graces extended to Putunia, the pair were friendly enough with each other now. Which made sense, going to the same school in the same grade. They already knew each other, so it was best to put their differences aside and stick together.

"Mean." Tim Tam still didn't talk much, but they did sign, and they could write when they wanted to. It didn't really help in this case, though.

"Tim Tam stole from a bully," Putunia clarified, sounding equal parts exasperated and frightened. Clover straightened when they heard stomping footsteps, turning to watch as a kid stormed up.

"I'm gonna have to ask you to stop there," Clover said calmly, crossing their arms and tapping their fingers against their sleeve. This was an uncommon situation. They didn't often tap because they were  _ angry _ .

"Or what?" He demanded, bristling. "That  _ brat  _ took my phone." He pointed accusingly at Tim Tam.

"Tim Tam." Clover glanced behind them. "Hand me the phone." Tim Tam hesitated, then complied with a sigh, placing it in their hand. "I'm going to give this back to you. But if you  _ ever  _ give these two problems again, I am not afraid to fight with anyone my age or older."

The kid scoffed. "And what's a  _ florist _ gonna do to me?" He asked tauntingly, crossing his arms.

Clover nudged Tim Tam and Putunia back a little. "Wanna find out?" They replied, keeping their voice level. 

Clover was not the most combat oriented person. They weren't particularly battle trained, but it wasn't rocket science to throw a punch or a kick that would hurt. Not to mention they worked out as a hobby and lifted their ten year old sister almost daily. They were fully sure they could hold their own.

The bully threw a punch at them, and they reflexively caught his arm, twisting it painfully. It didn't take much to bring him to his knees after that, just a bit more force. They let him go, backing up a step. "Try that again and I smash the phone," they warned, holding it up.

He got up, holding his arm and wincing. "...Fine," he spat. "Give me my phone." Clover carefully passed it into his hand, keeping their eyes on him.

"Go home," they said firmly, eyes narrowing. After a momentary stare down, the bully turned and left, grumbling all the while.

"...Cool," Tim Tam decided, eyes shining.

"That was so super cool!" Putunia cheered, bouncing up and down energetically. Clover laughed, turning to smile softly at the two.

"It was no problem. Nobody messes with my friends." They let their posture slacken, relaxation taking hold. "If they ever bother either of you again, you two just come find me, yeah?

They should totally take a self defense class sometime.

* * *

“‘Tunes, you okay? You’ve been a little quiet,” Clover commented, leaning from behind the couch to see her. Putunia looked up at them, hummed, and then looked away, thinking. Clover went to sit next to her, bringing their knees up to their chest and wrapping their arms around their legs. They waited patiently, silent.

“...I think I like girls,” she decided finally, resting her chin in her hands.

“Oh. That’s cool,” Clover said easily, tilting their head slightly. “I’m proud of you.”

Putunia paused, then let out a quiet laugh. “...I’m glad you’re my sibling, y’know. Thanks for that.” She went quiet for a few moments. “And, um. You know. For everything. I love you.”

Clover smiled brightly. “Love you too, ‘Tunes. And I mean, our dads are dating. And I like boys, so you have nothing to worry about.”

Putunia stood up, on her way to the kitchen, but she stopped to send a deadpan, vaguely amused look their way. “Oh, I would never have guessed.” And off she went out of the room.

“Whuh-- ah--  _ Putunia stop gossipping with Nat! _ ” They screeched indignantly, hiding their face in their turtleneck. Putunia laughed from the kitchen.

* * *

"Ready or not, here I come!" Trevor called.

Hide and seek was a very simple game. It was mostly calm, quiet, and it was stupid childish fun. They all needed that every once in a while. It was almost therapeutic for Clover, and likely for Putunia, too. They didn’t really get to be kids for a good chunk of their lives.

Clover was hunkered down in one of their usual hiding spots, a thick flower patch near the edge of the park. It was a good spot, but everyone had kinda figured it out. Not that Clover always hid there, but they had their reasons for using it.

"Gotcha, Cloves.” Trevor tapped their head, and they got up, sighing melodramatically.

“Ah, drat, whatever will I do?” They joked, stretching. Trevor snickered, looking around. “Well, let’s go find these dorks!” Clover grinned, rocking on their heels. And off they went, searching for Nat and Putunia. Clover had an inkling of where their sister might be, and they made a beeline for the playground.

“ _ Stay here, _ ” they signed to Trevor at the bottom of a tube slide, gently nudging him to the side of it. He nodded, raising his brows at the slide. Clover climbed up the ladder at the back, arriving at the top. “Oh, Putunia,” they called into the slide, grin on their face. They heard a distinctive squeak from inside.

“You! Traitor! Class traitor!” She cried indignantly. “I knew you’d do this, whenever Tre--”

Clover shoved themself into the slide before she could finish, aiming to flush her out one way or another. Putunia screeched, but they did hear her quickly slide down the rest of the way. There was another sharp squeal, and Trevor’s triumphant laughter as Clover landed outside the slide, brushing themself off.

“You are both war criminals,” Putunia complained, though there was a smile on her face as Trevor set her back on the ground.

“I’m a war criminal and proud,” Clover replied with a grin. Trevor gave them a high five, and they chuckled. “Welcome to the winning team, ‘Tunes. Any idea where Nat is?”

“Hmm.” She paused, thinking. “Last I saw she was headed for the trees.”

And off the small gaggle of kids went to complete their manhunt.

They found Nat in the area of the park that had more trees than the rest, but finding her wasn’t really the issue. Clover craned their neck back to see Nat perched up in one of the high branches, smug grin on her face.

“Okay. Uh. I’ve never climbed a tree. Have you ever climbed a tree?” Clover glanced at Putunia.

“Yeah.” She paused. “But I fell.”

“Okay, so that’s out the… where’d Trevor go.”

“Into the tree,” Putunia replied, pointing up. Just like she said, Trevor was skillfully scaling the tree, climbing from branch to branch with ease. “Go, Trevor!” Putunia cheered, wide grin on her face. Clover would’ve followed suit, but they were too busy being stunned.

Nat was obviously getting nervous, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like a cuss word. “Look out below!” She called, shifting to jump off of the branch. She took a leap, and Clover instinctively backed up, arms stretched out to catch her. She landed straight in their arms, and they caught her with a grunt, managing to hold her weight.

“...Hey. Hey Clover. I’m half-vampire, you know,” she pointed out with brows raised.

“Protective instinct,” Clover replied, setting her down.

“We win!” Trevor cried victoriously, raising his arms above his head. He started to climb back down.

Nat leaned their elbow on Clover’s shoulder. “Bet you’d rather he jump,” she muttered quietly. Clover went red.

“Oh my god. Oh my god, no. Shut up. Nat.” They put a hand to their face, but lowered it when they heard Trevor’s feet hit the ground.

“That was so cool!” Trevor said with a wide smile, stopping in front of Clover. “You just  _ caught her _ from like  _ twenty feet up! _ ”

Clover’s face flushed again. “Ah, it’s… it was no big deal. She’s not heavy,” they deflected, rubbing the back of their neck. Nat smirked silently, and Putunia just put a hand against her face, slowly shaking her head. “And, uh. It was really cool how you climbed that tree. I didn’t know you could do that.”

“That was nothing. I messed around in trees a lot as a kid,” Trevor replied, smiling brightly. “I bet you could do it just fine if you tried. You’ve definitely got the strength for it.”

“Haha, thanks, Trev,” Clover replied, slowing down a bit as nervousness crept up in their chest. They could usually talk fine by now, but stress still messed them up sometimes. And God, did they not want to embarrass themself like that right now.

“No, really, I could teach you sometime if you--”

Nat smacked her hands against her face extremely audibly, letting out a long-suffering sigh. Clover gave her a sharp look, though it probably wasn’t all that intimidating with how red they were right then. They were doing their best.

“Oh. Sorry, Nat,” Trevor said with a laugh, crossing his arms. “I’ll text you about it later, yeah, Cloves?”

“Uh-- yeah, sure,” they stammered, smiling nervously and tapping their arm. “We, uh, we should probably go home. It’s getting dark.” Which wasn’t wrong, the sun  _ was _ slowly setting. A perfect excuse to excuse themself from this situation.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Trevor agreed, looking up at the sky. “Well, I’ll text you later, Cloves.” He wrapped his arms around them in a hug, held it for a few minutes, and then backed up. “Bye, guys! See you all later.” And with that, he walked off.

Clover held their composure for a few moments after he left before absolutely blowing a gasket. Nat snickered, and Putunia shook her head. “You two are awful. Terrible. The worst. Please, for me and Putunia’s sake, just get it together. Both of you,” Nat scolded, hands on her hips.

“That was pretty bad,” Putunia agreed, face a mix of secondhand embarrassment, exasperation, and fondness.

"Yeah, yeah," Clover huffed, crossing their arms. "Come on, let's just go home."

* * *

One of their alarms went off. On autopilot, they turned it off, got out of their chair, unlocked the front door, and prepared for impact.

After just a few moments, the door opened harshly. "Clover!" And then the weight of a whole eleven year old plus her rather weighty backpack was on them. Clover caught her with barely a grunt, lifting her into their arms as she laughed, bright smile on her face. They smiled gently, setting her back on the ground.

“Welcome home, ‘Tunia,” Clover said fondly. Their sister grinned, hugging them tight.

**Author's Note:**

> i'll be real w/ y'all clover/trevor stemmed from "what canon boys are around clover's age" and he was like, The Only. and then that went from "clover had a stupid baby crush on trevor during the habitat" to "clover Still had a dumb crush on trevor" to "It's Real". please don't tell me i just posted cringe and am going to lose subscriber i know
> 
> title is from atlanta by go! child (again)


End file.
